Wednesday 24 January, 2007

So I've kept on playing gradius, found that it only gets harder. It is a fun game but can be damn frustrating. Each new level is filled with more obstacles and enemies and barriers that the player must avoid and destroy. If you're playing this game take a couple of breaks so you don't do something you regret.

So, what do you think are the elements of good level design for a shmup like Gradius?

- Jim

I think the level design was very well done for the time, but I'm more partial to the level design of the later releases of this game, like the one you demoed in class for the playstation. I really liked the partial 3d element. I also enjoyed how the levels scrolled vertically as well as horizontally, and the epic boss battles were a fun change of pace. I really like variety in my games. I know gradius is the archatypical horizontal shooter, but it would be cool if at some points it switched to a vertical shooter, or added new elements to the game play like different ships, maybe speed boosters as well as weapon upgrades, a variety of enemy death animations instead of all enemies dying the same way from every type of weapon. There are some games where I like the fact that everything dies the same way, but I find that these vertical shooters exhaust themselves pretty quickly as they are just too repetative. I'm sure a lot of this is due to the limitations of the system, but I think one well thought out addition to a game can make all the difference, for example street fighter three, for the most part, it's like all of the other street fighters. but the introdction of the parrying system makes it feel like a whole new game, but it retained the classic elemnts that fans had grown to love.